1980–81 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

1980–81 Houston Cougars men's basketball
1980–81 Houston Cougars men's basketball
SWC tournament champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	21–9 (10–6 SWC)
Head coach	Guy Lewis (25th season);
Assistant coaches	Terry Kirkpatrick; Don Schverak;
Home arena	Hofheinz Pavilion
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 20 Arkansas	13	–	3	.813	24	–	8	.750
Houston †	10	–	6	.625	21	–	9	.700
Baylor	10	–	6	.625	15	–	12	.556
Texas Tech	8	–	8	.500	15	–	13	.536
Texas A&M	8	–	8	.500	15	–	12	.556
Texas	7	–	9	.438	15	–	15	.500
Rice	7	–	9	.438	12	–	15	.444
TCU	6	–	10	.375	11	–	18	.379
SMU	3	–	13	.188	7	–	20	.259

† 1981 SWC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1980–81 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in NCAA Division I competition in the 1980–81 season.

Houston, coached by Guy Lewis, played its home games in the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and was then a member of the Southwest Conference.

Roster

1980–81 Houston Cougars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C	50	Dan Bunce	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Fr	Conroe	Conroe, TX
C	52	David Bunce	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Conroe	Conroe, TX
G	12	Eric Davis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Senn	Chicago, IL
F	22	Clyde Drexler	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Sterling	Houston, TX
F/C	40	Larry Micheaux	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	Worthing	Houston, TX
G	10	Rodney Parker	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Davis	Houston, TX
G	24	Dave Rose	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Northbrook/Dixie JC	Houston, TX
G	00	Lynden Rose	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Jackson	Nassau, Bahamas
F	54	Bryan Williams	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Palisades	Inglewood, CA
G	20	Rob Williams	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Milby	Houston, TX

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1980*		USC	W 71–54	1–0	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 13, 1980*		Texas-Rio Grande Valley	W 84–70	2–0	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 16, 1980*		Pepperdine	W 94–81	3–0	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Dec 19, 1980*		Army	W 88–58	4–0	Astrodome Houston, Texas
Dec 20, 1980*		Wyoming	W 70–61	5–0	Astrodome Houston, Texas
Dec 23, 1980*		at Nevada	W 86–71	6–0	Centennial Coliseum Reno, Nevada
Jan 3, 1981		at Rice	W 62–57	7–0 (1–0)	Rice Gymnasium Houston, Texas
Jan 6, 1981		Texas Tech	W 73–70	8–0 (2–0)	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jan 10, 1981		at Texas	W 91–71	9–0 (3–0)	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
Jan 17, 1981*		Lamar	W 70–64	10–1	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jan 19, 1981		Arkansas	W 57–54	11–1 (4–1)	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jan 24, 1981		TCU	W 68–59	12–1 (5–1)	Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, Texas
SWC Tournament
Mar 7, 1981*		vs. TCU Semifinals	W 73–53	21–7	HemisFair Arena San Antonio, Texas
Mar 8, 1981*		vs. Texas Championship game	W 84–59	21–8	HemisFair Arena San Antonio, Texas
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1981*	(8 E)	vs. (9 E) Villanova First round	L 72–90	21–9	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Central Time.

^ "1980-81 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Houston Athletics. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 878–879. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

v t e Houston Cougars men's basketball
Venues	Sam Houston Coliseum (select games; 1937–19??) Jeppesen Gymnasium (1946–1966) Delmar Fieldhouse (1966–1969) Fertitta Center (1969–present) Health and Physical Education Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Rice SMU
Culture & lore	Shasta Phi Slama Jama Game of the Century "Cougar Fight Song" Spirit of Houston
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics